Rating: 
Summary: This book is a Roller Coaster Ride up a Mesa
Review: The entrance of Conchis is stunning, confusing. The inventiveness of the situation occuring on Phraxos makes one unable to put the book down, as a single question burns. "Why is the millionaire staging such a costly and elaborate event?" Is there a connection with time travel, other worlds, or another particular reason he must do this? The rollercoaster keeps moving UP and UP...... ....AND WE NEVER FIND OUT WHY! I invested a weekend in this baby, after seeing it featured on the Amazon front page. I don't think this book warranted the rave...neuh neuh neuh!
Rating: 
Summary: A fine example of a bad first novel.
Review: Fowles claims in his introduction to the newly-revised version that while this was his third published novel, it was a first novel in every sense. The next 700-odd pages bare this out. Fowles's writing is deeply personal, stream of consciousness mixed with psychological symbolism, creating a world uncomfortably close to that of the writer. One wonders how much of Urfe's own journey from staid, stoic Englishman to naked, sentimental Grecian is really Fowles's own journey, one he may have experienced while writing this book. While his writing is problematic at best, where "The Magus" does succeed is in the labrynthine structure of the plot, mirroring the descent of the narrator into the maze. Part of the enjoyment of reading the book is decoding the myriad symbols and literary references. Come to this one with your Riverside and Demotic dictionary on the table beside you. Remember that DeLillo's first couple of works were literary disasters, and Doig's and Coupland's first entries into novels were soon wildly bettered. With this knowledge, Fowles's "first" novel, as he likes to call it, seems all the more brilliant. Worth the read, if only to get lost in the psychic maze.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: I read raging review about this book at Amazon.com, quoted from one of Fowles' admireres who claims that he is re-reading this book once a year. With overwheming 10s, I expected to read a real fiction masterpiece from a writer who I never read before. And, boy, I was so disappointed! There is no plot and no meaning to this novel. Main character wants to get out from the messy love afair and decides to take teaching post on the small island in Greece. "Unusual" friendship and experiences start to evolve. The mysterious "Magus", who is claiming to be a magician, then a doctor of psychiatry, then wealthy philantropist with nothing better to do but produce "movies". Characters engage in bleak conversations about the WWI in order to recap on the Hitler (does this writer know any difference between WWI and WWII ????). The only thing worth reading is chapter 61 - on the main character's psyche. I could go on and on on all the flaws of this novel. It is just not worth mentioning any more. My advice to readers: if you want magic, mixed with historical fiction, marvelous characters and compulsive read, go for "The Eight" book writted by Katherine Nevile and you will know what I mean!
Rating: 
Summary: An annual re-read for 25 years!
Review: I first read The Magus in 1972 while living and working for the US government on the Greek island of Crete - don't ask. It was, and is, the most fascinating, terrifying, enjoyable, frustrating, erotic, challenging and life-changing book I have ever read. I re-read it at least once a year (or so), and have recommended it to countless friends. No one is ambivalent about it: One loves it and re-reads it again and again - or puts it down as unreadable within a day. Give it a try. Maybe you will "get it", maybe you won't. Either way, your eyes will be a little more opened - you can count on that!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, Confusing, Exhilirating, Probing
Review: Simply the best book I have ever read. Its intricacies were challenging without being overly complicated. An unbelieveable achievement for a first Novel. The search for reality and truth have since been a major part of my life. Sorry about the cliche but this book changed my life (or at least my perception of it)
Rating:
Summary: Pack your bags; you're going to Greece!
Review: If ever a dream submitted to an author's will, it has happened in "The Magus". John Fowles, with a superb command of place and of time, imbeds stories-within-stories amid a complicated plot, and the result is breath- taking. If ever one hears one's self stumbling to define "magic realism", think of the stars over Phraxos, think of ouzo and the caice that will not return for a fortnight, and then do not insist on definition. "The Magus" is full of boundless energy woven in a superior narrative.
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Summary: It made me re-evaluate my concept of reality.
Review: Are you ready to have every ounce of trust in perception dashed? Are you ready to question everything you encounter in daily life? Are you ready to throw a book across the room out of frustration? This book is for you! Read it, and never think the same again.
Rating:
Summary: A Treat
Review: This book is a great novel about reality and how we percieve it. The hero is invited to participate in an experiment and cannot the resist the tempation. He is drawn into a maelstrom of strange events and after a while he does not know the difference between the reality and the experiment. The story goes to show how fragile our concept of reality really is. And is written by a truly great author. A treat
Rating:
Summary: Fowles' tour de force
Review: A dense and richly textured work. Filled with archetypes and page turning surprises. Excellent character development
Rating:
Summary: the last lines of the book
Review: I love this book, for it is, as someone else said, a challenging book. The answers aren't clearly written and the characters actually have mystery and depth that makes them real.For those curious, the last two lines (in latin) are from one of the earliest poems ever discovered, by an unknown author. The lines translated pretty literally mean, "Tomorrow let him love, who has not loved / and he who has loved, tomorrow let him love." Great book, and for those who don't know, the insipration for the 1997 film, "The Game", starring michael douglas, was originally inspired by this novel.
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